Abstract

This article examines how debates surrounding the practice and development of maternity care in England between 1948, when the National Health Service (NHS) came into existence, and 1974, when a reorganisation of the service saw the local Public Health Departments being abolished, determined the maternity care available to Oxfordshire women. Based on 92 oral-history interviews, the article considers the services on offer to women, and their experiences of this provision, with reference to the themes of antenatal care, child birth and postnatal care. The article demonstrates that there were important changes in maternity care during the years 1948–1974, although there were also some notable continuities. However, it also shows that time period is not the only significant variable. The locality in which a woman lived determined how she experienced the developments in maternity care that were occurring.